The Supreme Court granted a rare reprieve to a convicted murderer in Alabama late last night, agreeing with his lawyer that proceeding with his scheduled execution without his pastor’s presence in the death chamber violated the man’s First Amendment-protected religious freedoms. The full title of the case is Jefferson S. Dunn, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections v. Willie B. Smith III. The stay appeared to have been granted just after 11 p.m. on Feb. 11. The execution is expected to be rescheduled after a new execution warrant replaces the one that expired at midnight. Smith, now 51, was sentenced to death in 1992 for abducting, robbing, and murdering Sharma Ruth Johnson, 22, the year before. Johnson’s remains were located in the trunk of her burnt out car. She had been shot in the head execution-style in a cemetery after begging for her life. Alabama enacted a policy in 2019 forbidding …